Machine for applying pressure to shoe bottoms



Se t. 1, 1953 A. EPPLER, JR

MACHINE FOR APPLYING PRESSURE TO SHOE BOTTOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1951 In M91210!" 7 16 Andrew Fppler 87652 1 u Hdl l lHU Sept. 1, 1953 A. EPPLER, .JR 2,650,380

MACHINE FOR APPLYING PRESSURE TO SHOE BOTTOMS Filed June 5, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Argdrew Eppler 1/2"" Patented Sept. 1, 1953 MACHINE FOR APPLYING PRESSURE T SHOE BOTTOMS Andrew 'Eppler, J12, Lynn, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 5, 1951, Serial N 0. 229,979

4 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for use in the manufacture of shoes, and more particularly to machines for applying pressure to shoe bottoms.

Machines for this purpose generally include a sole-supporting pad and heel and toe abutments engageable with the toe portion of a shoe and the cone of a last in the shoe for supporting the shoe and last against the pressure of the pad. The machines are frequently called upon to operate on shoes of various styles and sizes and it may be necessary frequently to adjust the heightwise positions of the heel and toe abutments to accommodate the various styles and sizes of shoes to be operated upon.

It is an object of the invention to provide, in a machine of the type characterized above, improved means for supporting the heel and toe abutments arranged to permit rapid adjustment of one or both of the abutments with a minimum of effort on the part of the operator. To this end and in accordance with a feature of the invention, each abutment is carried by a rack mounted for vertical adjustment in a support having teeth cooperating with those on the rack for locking the rack and abutment in any one of a plurality of heightwise positions. The teeth of the rack are normally maintained in engagement with the teeth on the support by a vertically movable cam plate which acts to force the rack toward the teeth on the support when the cam plate is moved downwardly. If the plate is moved upwardly, the plate and the rack may be moved away from the teeth on the support to free the rack for vertical adjustment which is readily effected by the operator after which the plate is depressed to lock the rack in adjusted position within the support.

The above and other features of the invention including various details of construction and novel combinations of parts will now be described by reference to the drawings and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, illustrating the work-enga ing parts of one form of machine in which the invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a plan 'view, partly in section, of the upper portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a section on the line III-III of Fig. 1.

The invention is illustrated as embodied in a machine of the type shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States 1,549,243 granted August 11, 1925 on an application of E. E. Winkley. The machine includes a pad box It carrying a sole-supporting pad I2, the pad and pad box being pivoted at [4 on frames l6 mounted for vertical sliding movement on rods I8. Mechanism is provided for moving the pad and pad box vertically to carry an assembled shoe and outsole upwardly into engagement with the heel and toe abutments 20, 22 respectively. The heel abutment is illustrated as being in the form of a fiat plate engageable with the cone of a last in the shoe although it will be understood that this abutment may be provided with a spindle arranged to enter the spindle hole in the cone of the last.

For supporting the heel and toe abutments, a crosshea-d 24 is secured to the upper ends of the rods i8 and carries a pair of supports 26, 28 which are slidable thereon lengthwise of the pad I2. To the underside of the crosshead 24 is secured a plate 30 and the side walls of the supports 26 and 28 have inwardly extending flanges 32 (Fig. 2) at their upper ends engageable with the top surfaces of the plate 30 whereby the supports 26 and 28 may be slid along the plate to locate the supports in the desired positions lengthwise of a shoe on the pad. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the supports 26 and 28 are interconnected so that they will move equally in opposite directions. For this purpose a, lever 34 is pivoted at 36 in the central portion of the crosshead 24 and the outer ends of the lever are connected by links 38, 40 to the supports 26, 28 respectively. The upper ends of the supports are provided with several tapped holes 42 so that the links maybe connected in any one of several positions along the supports. As one support is moved length wise of the crosshea-d it will be understood that the other support will be similarly moved but in an opposite direction. The supports carry blocks M urged by springs 46 into engagement with the adjacent face of the plate 38 to hold the support against unintentional movement lengthwise of the crosshead. The action of the springs may be adjusted by screws 48 to vary the action of the blocks 44.

As shown in Fig. 3 the supports are generally U-shaped in horizontal section and secured within the base of the U is a rack plate 50. The heel and toe abutments are carried by racks 52 having teeth engageable with the teeth on the fixed rack plates 50 so that with the parts in the positions shown in Fig. l a rigid connection is formed between the racks 52 carrying the abutments and the supports 26, 28.

For holding the racks '52 in locking engagement with the rack plates 50, cam plates 54 are provided. Pins 56 are journaled in the side walls of the supports 26, 28 and extend therebetween and are provided with slabbed-oif portions forming flat faces arranged to engage the adjacent surfaces of the cam plates 54. These cam plates carry pins 58 having heads 60 which fit in T- 1 shaped slots 62 (Fig. 3) extending vertically in the adjacent portions of the racks 52. The cam plates 54 have vertical surfaces 64 which, with the parts in the positionsillustrated, engage the fiat faces of the pins 56 and maintain the racks 52 in locking engagement with the rack plates knobs 68 conveniently located for engagement by the operator. By reason of the connection afforded by the heads 60 of the pins'5B between the cam plates and the racks'it will be apparent that upon moving the cam plates 54 upwardly and outwardly the racks 52 are moved away from the rack plates 50. At this time the pins 56 will turn slightly so that the flat faces of the pins will engage the inclined surfaces of the cam plates and these surfaces are so formed that the outward movement imparted by the operator to the racks 52 is sufiicient to disengage the teeth of the racks 52 from the teeth of the rack plates When thus disengaged the abutments may readily be moved vertically to the desired heightwise positions by the'operator whereupon the cam plates 54 are moved downwardly and forced inwardly at the same time by their engagement with the pins 56 to lock the racks 52 to the rack plates 50 in the proper positions of adjustment. Suitable indicia may be provided on the racks 52 to assist the operator in positioning the abutments in the proper heightwise positions in accordance with the particular size or style of shoe to be operated upon. When the cam plates are returned to their lowermost positions as illustrated in Fig. 1 the inclined surfaces 66, in moving downwardly with respect to the pins 56, exert a cam action on the flat faces moving the pins so that the flat faces are vertically disposed as illustrated and the cam plates 54 are securely held against unintentional displacement. Thus the racks 52 are rigidly held in engagement with i the rack plates 50 carried by the supports 26, 28.

Provision is made for preventing the racks 52 from dropping entirely out of the supports 26, 28 when they are disengaged from the rack plates 50 by upward and outward movements of the cam plates 54. For this purpose the upper portions of the racks52- have formed in their front'faces elongated recesses adapted to receive pins 12 (Fig. 3) which pass through bosses 14 formed in the front walls of the supports 26, 2B. To the outer ends of the pins 12 are secured knobs 16 which normally seat against adjacent surfaces of the bosses 14 and'are'held in these positions by springs 18 acting against collars 80 secured to the pins. The pins I2 are smaller in diameter than the width of the recesses 10 thus permitting lateral movement of the racks 52 without interfering'with the disengagement of the teeth thereon from the teeth on the rack plates 50. The recesses are sufiicient in length to permit the racks to be adjusted throughout the desired range but engagement of the shoulders formed at the upper and Qi th 4 recesses with the pins will prevent the racks from dropping out of the supports when released from looking engagement with the rack plates.

Should it be desired to remove the racks with the abutments entirely from the supports, the pins 12 may be withdrawn from the recesses 10 'by exerting an outward force on the knobs 16 against the action of the springs 16. The bosses 14 are provided with horizontally extending slots 82 adapted to receive pins 84 carried by the knobs 16 with the pins 12 in operative positions with respect to the racks 52. Upon pulling the knobs and the pins outwardly until the pins 84 are out of engagement with the slots 82 the knobs 16 may be turned to carry the pins-84 into engagement with the outer surfaces of the bosses 14 thus locking the pins 12 out of operative relation to the racks 52, facilitating replacement of the racks.

From the above it will be seen that the heel and toe abutments may be easily and rapidly adjusted heightwise of the pad l2 by the operator in accordance with the size and style of shoe to be operated upon, the adjustment being effected merely by lifting the cam plates 54 and moving them away from the rack plates 56 and then moving the racks until the abutments are in the desired heightwise positions whereupon they are securely locked in positions by moving the cam plates 54 downwardly during which movements they are automaticallyurged inwardly to'force the racks 52 into locking engagement with the rack plates 50. Because of the large number of teeth on the racks which are in engagement with the rack platesthe connection between the racks and the supports is sufficiently strong to withstand the heavy upward forces which are applied during upward movement of the pad box in the sole-laying or sole-attaching operation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for applying pressure to shoe bottoms, a sole-supportin pad, means for supporting a shoe and last against the pressure of said pad comprising an abutment, a vertically adjustable rack carrying said abutment, a support for said rack, a rack bar carried by said support cooperating with the rack to lock the rack against vertical movement relatively to said support, means for moving the rack laterally out of locking engagement with the rack' bar to permit vertical adjustment of the rack and of the abutment carried thereby, said means comprising a vertically movable cam plate carried by said support, means connecting the cam plate and the rack for conjoint movements toward and from the rack bar while permitting relative vertical movements between the plate and the rack,-and means cooperating with the cam plate for moving the cam plate and the rack in a direction to cause locking engagement of therack with the rack bar in response to vertical movement of the cam'plate in one direction. g 1

2. In a machine for applying pressure to shoe bottoms, a sole-supporting pad; means for Supporting a shoe and last against the pressure of said pad comprising an abutment, a vertically adjustable rack carrying said abutment, a support for said rack, a rack bar' carried by said support cooperating with the-rack to lock the rack against vertical movement relatively to said support, means for moving the-rack laterally out of locking engagementwiththe rackbar to permit vertical adjustment of the rack and of the abutment carried thereby, said means comprising a vertically movable cam plate carried by said support, means connecting the cam plate and the rack for conjoint movements toward and from the rack bar while permitting relative vertical movements between the plate and the rack, said cam plate having cam surfaces inclined downwardly toward the rack bar, and pins carried by said support having flat surfaces arranged for engagement with the inclined surfaces of the cam plate whereby the cam plate and. the rack are urged toward the rack bar in response to downward movement of the cam plate by the operator.

3. In a machine for applying pressure to shoe bottoms, a sole-supporting pad, means for supporting a shoe and last against the pressure of said pad comprising an abutment, a vertically adjustable rack carrying said abutment, a support for said rack, a rack bar carried by said support cooperating with the rack to lock the rack against vertical movement relatively to said support, means for moving the rack laterally out of locking engagement with the rack bar to permit vertical adjustment of the rack and of the abutment carried thereby, said means comprising a vertically movable cam plate carried by said support, means connecting the cam plate and the rack for conjoint movements while permitting relative vertical movements between the plate and the rack, said cam plate having cam surfaces inclined downwardly toward the rack bar, and pins rotatably carried by said support and having flat surfaces arranged for engagement with the inclined surfaces of the cam plate whereby the cam plate and the rack are urged toward the rack bar in response to downward movement of the cam plate by the operator, said cam plate having vertical surfaces above and adjacent to said inclined surfaces arranged for engagement with the fiat faces of said pins thereby preventing unintentional lateral displacement of the rack out of locking engagement with the rack bar.

4. In a machine for applying pressure to shoe bottoms, a sole-supporting pad, means for supporting a shoe and last against the pressure of said pad comprising an abutment, a vertically movable rack carrying said abutment, a support for said rack, a rack bar carried by said support and cooperating with said rack to lock the rack against vertical movement in the support, a vertically extending T-slot in the face of said rack opposite to the face having rack teeth, a pin having a head slidable in said slot, a cam plate carrying said pin for movement vertically with ANDREW EPPLER, J R.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 580,027 Wiltse Apr. 6, 1897 739,068 Ercanbrack Sept. 15, 1903 1,528,609 Green Mar. 3, 1925 1,944,882 Finn Jan. 30, 1934 2,501,789 Senfieben Mar. 28, 1950 

